Thursday, 27 Mar 2014

Written Answers Nos 105-113

Disability Allowance Payments

Questions (105)

Bernard Durkan

Question:

105. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Protection the reason no payment was received between 12 December and 29 December 2013 in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare who was receiving jobseeker's allowance but is now on disability allowance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14546/14]

Written answers

Minister for Social Protection

The person concerned was admitted to hospital on 12 December 2013. He notified his local office of this and, as he was not capable of or available for work, his jobseeker’s allowance payment was suspended from that date.

The person concerned applied for a disability allowance on 23 January 2014 and has been awarded a weekly rate of €188. Consideration is now being given to backdating this payment to 12 December 2013. He will be advised of the outcome shortly.

Community Employment Schemes Data

Questions (106)

Noel Harrington

Question:

106. Deputy Noel Harrington asked the Minister for Social Protection the reasons for different payments and allowances paid to those awarded education and-or training grants while participating on different schemes such as Tús and community employment administered by her Department; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14558/14]

Written answers

Minister for Social Protection

Both Tús and Community Employment (CE) focus on those who are long-term unemployed, with the aim of improving the employability and work readiness of participants. Tús differs from CE in that the latter contains accredited training components as part of a work placement. The payments made to participants on CE, Tús, Gateway and the Rural Social Scheme have been standardised for some time.

Tús, Gateway and CE are part of a suite of interventions the Department funds and are designed to meet the priorities established by the Government in Pathways to Work. In terms of up-skilling jobseekers, the Department provides income support for training and education mainly under the Back to Education programme. This provides for the payment of allowances to enable a jobseeker to undertake full-time education and training at second and third level. The value of these allowances are broadly similar to those paid under the relevant qualifying scheme (jobseekers allowance or similar). The programme also supports a part-time education option and the education, training and development option.

Consultancy Contracts Expenditure

Questions (107)

Michael Healy-Rae

Question:

107. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Social Protection if she misled Dáil Éireann in February when she stated that €20.6 million had been spent on external consultants and service providers since she took office but recently, in a parliamentary reply to this Deputy, she stated that she had spent €34.8 million on external consultants and service providers; on which occasion was she being factual; and if she will explain the €14.2 million difference; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14566/14]

Written answers

Minister for Social Protection

I wish to confirm for the Deputy that there is no question of the Dáil being misled in responses to the previous Parliamentary Questions referred to. I always endeavour to be helpful in relation to the information provided in answers to Parliamentary Questions and to ensure that the response addresses the specific question raised.

I would point out to the Deputy that the information sought in the Parliamentary Questions referred to was not the same and, accordingly, there were significant differences in the details supplied in the answers and the total amounts of money referred to therein. The major difference is that Parliamentary Question No. 304 (PQ 6461/14) of 11 February 2014 asked me to provide details in relation to contracts awarded since May 2011. Parliamentary Question No. 115 (PQ 12586/14) of 13 March 2014 requested details of payments made since February 2011. The responses provided were responses appropriate to the details sought.

Some of the apparent difference also relates to the specific request in the first PQ for the full value of certain contracts, i.e. those put in place since May 2011, compared to the request for amounts paid in a given period, i.e. since February 2011, in the second PQ.

In addition, there are a number of recipients listed on PQ 12586/14 that are not included on PQ 6461/14 as the relevant contracts were awarded prior to May 2011.

For example, the contract value for the General Register Office (GRO) maintenance & development project awarded in 2010, and the contract value for SDM (Service Delivery Modernisation) support & maintenance awarded in 2008 are not included in PQ 6461/14. However payments made since February 2011 in relation to these contracts totalling some €11m are included in PQ 12586/14.

Full details of the constituent elements of the two responses are included in the tables below.

I am satisfied that the engagement of consultants and external service providers contributes to decision making and policy formulation, and provides valuable support for the Department’s service delivery modernisation and reform programmes, and that procurement of consultants and external service providers is compliant with best practice in procurement, governance and realising value for money.

Contractor	PQ 12586/14	Amount Spent 2011- end Jan 2014	PQ 6461/14	Contract Value for contracts awarded post May 2011
Accenture	GRO Maintenance & Development	€1,022,009	Contract awarded pre May 2011; not included in response	-
Accenture	SDM - Means Object	€195,305	Contract awarded pre May 2011; not included in response	-
Accenture	Business Process Improvement	€186,563	Contract awarded pre May 2011; not included in response	-
Accenture	SDM- Payment & Generic Scheme	€1,631,729	Payment & Generic Scheme & Payments Processing - Deduction at Source for LPT	€1,227,284
Accenture	FÁS ICT Applications Systems Review	€44,772	FÁS ICT Applications Systems Review	€44,772
Accenture	Single European Payment Area (SEPA) compliance	€136,056	SEPA Compliance Project	€169,316
Accenture	Predictive Analytics Model	€15,744	Predictive Analytics Model	€15,744
Accenture	Mobile Opportunity Exploration	€33,388	Mobile Opportunity Exploration	€33,388
Accenture	Enhancement of Means Assessment Object Project	€352,645	Enhancement of Means	€391,829
Bearing Point	SDM - Support & Maintenance	€10,093,362	Contract awarded pre May 2011; not included in response	-
Bearing Point	Redundancy & Insolvency Functions	€1,165,158	Contract awarded pre May 2011; not included in response	-
Bearing Point	SDM - Non Contributory Suite	€1,115,031	Contract awarded pre May 2011; not included in response	-
Bearing Point	SDM - Activation Customer Profiling & Case Management	€132,788	Contract awarded pre May 2011; not included in response	-
Bearing Point	Migration of CWS Staff HR Records	€25,620	DPER Contract; not included in response	-
Bearing Point	Public Services Card Registration & Management Functionality on BOMi	€1,045,046	Contract awarded pre May 2011; not included in response	-
Bearing Point	Intreo – One Stop Shop Pilot	€176,836	Contract awarded pre May 2011; not included in response	-
Bearing Point	BOMi Production Support	€1,986,209	BOMi Production Support	€3,693,075
Bearing Point	BOMi Business Change	€1,221,707	BOMi Business Change	€2,386,200
Bearing Point	BOMi Release & Environments Mgt Functions	€798,563	BOMi Release & Environment Mgmt.	€1,445,250
Bearing Point	BOMi Central Test	€655,517	BOMi Central Test	€1,199,250
Bearing Point	Illness & Disability Scheme enhancement	€379,669	Technical Change Services in Medical Referral & Case Management Service	€607,285
Biometric Card Services	Standard Authentication Framework Environment (SAFE) Public Services Card	€182,314	Contract awarded pre May 2011; not included in response	-
Biometric Card Services	SAFE PSC provision	€2,349,494	Contract awarded pre May 2011; not included in response	-
Biometric Card Services	Standard Authentication Framework Environment (SAFE) Public Services Card	€2,779,411	Contract awarded pre May 2011; not included in response	-
Deloitte	IS Audit Consultancy/Computer Audit Assistance	€103,021	IS Internal Audit Services	€170,748
Deloitte	Confidential Forensic Investigation Services	€7,109	Contract awarded pre May 2011; not included in response	-
Deloitte	Security Partner to provide ongoing Information Security Support	€34,215	Security Partner to provide ongoing Information Security Support (2012-2014)	€83,025
Deloitte	Support to Regional Development Team (Client Contact & Assessment)	€537,854	Support to Regional Development Team	€1,564,560
Deloitte	Pathways to Work Case Management - BOM Dev Team	€254,705	Business Object Modelling Team	€826,560
ESRI	SWITCH Research Programme	€450,000	DOF Contract;  not included in response	-
ESRI	Analysis & Measurement of Deprivation & Poverty	€199,474	Analysis & Measurement of Poverty and Deprivation	€230,703
ESRI	Profiling of “Stock” Live Registrants	€16,873	Profiling of Live Registrants to identify those most at risk of Labour Market Disadvantage	€33,745
ESRI	Evaluation Research (BTEA)	€9,809	Not on contract D/B at the time; not included in response	-
FUJITSU	PARP Support & Development	€619,480	PARP Support & Development and Oracle Support & Upgrade	€2,750,000
FUJITSU	PARP Modifications	€101,337	PARP Support & Dev	€116,883
FUJITSU	PARP Production Support	€51,540	Contract awarded pre May 2011; not included in response	-
FUJITSU	Oracle Financials & Business Objects	€13,950	Contract awarded pre May 2011; not included in response	-
Hewlett Packard	SDM - Certification of Unemployment by Mobile Phone	€830,777	Contract awarded pre May 2011; not included in response	-
Hewlett Packard	Office Systems Modernisation	€199,475	Contract awarded pre May 2011; not included in response	-
Hewlett Packard	Stór Support & Maintenance	€244,321	Corporate Portal (Stór) Support & Maintenance	€600,000
Hewlett Packard	Corporate Portal (Stór) Support & Maintenance	€189,088	Contract awarded pre May 2011; not included in response	-
Hewlett Packard	Welfare.ie Redesign 2012	€426,451	Welfare.ie Redesign 2012	€569,958
Naked Objects	Business Objects Modelling Advice & Expertise	€92,104	Business Objects Modelling Advice & Expertise (2013-2015)	€463,710
Naked Objects	SDM - Business Objects Modelling Advice & Expertise	€108,486	Contract awarded pre May 2011; not included in response	-
Naked Objects	BOMi - Business Objects Modelling Advice & Expertise	€234,463	Contract awarded pre May 2011; not included in response	-
Naked Objects	Technical Development Advice	€144,644	Contract awarded pre May 2011; not included in response	-
Naked Objects	BOMi- Technical Development Advice	€168,181	Contract awarded pre May 2011; not included in response	-
Naked Objects	SDM - Technical Development Advice	€199,260	Contract awarded pre May 2011; not included in response	-
Naked Objects	No Spending in period	-	Provision of support for the Naked Objects Framework (NOF)	€153,750
3M	SAFE - Facial Image Matching	€184,794	Not on contract D/B at the time; Not Included	-
Axiom Consulting	Employee Engagement Programme (Culture & Values)	€74,812	Culture & Values (Employee Engagement Programme)	€122,692
Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion	External Service Delivery - Employment Services	€140,989	External Service Delivery - Employment Services	€114,260
Compass Point	Developing architecture for Intreo	€4,600	Developing architecture for Intreo	€4,600
Consult Hyperion	SAFE PSC	€132,978	Contract awarded pre May 2011; not included in response	-
Core International	Corepay Development & Upgrade	€38,402	Contract awarded pre May 2011; not included in response	-
Core International	Online Overtime	€1,016	Contract awarded pre May 2011; not included in response	-
Core International	CoreExpense Travel & Subsistence System Upgrade & Upgrade of Core Time & Attendance System	€63,862	CoreExpense Travel & Subsistence System Upgrade & Upgrade of Core Time & Attendance  System	€80,980
Core International	Online P60, PRD60 & Income Levy Certificate	€526	Contract awarded pre May 2011; not included in response	-
Core International	CorePay & CoreExpense Enhancement (SEPA	€5,381	DOF Contract ; not included in response	-
Creative Inc.	Design Work for Intreo	€24,777	Design Work for Intreo	€23,407
Daniel Finn	Pathways to Work – Consultation	€650	Pathways to Work – Consultation	€650
Dept. of Enterprise, Trade & Employment	Administrative Burden Review	€14,000	Not a DSP contract; not included in response	-
Ernst & Young	Security Partner to provide ongoing Information Security Support	€7,623	Contract awarded pre May 2011; not included in response	-
FÁS	FÁS support for existing ES/CE Information Systems	€55,533	Memorandum of Understanding with FAS; not included in response	-
Haywood Associates	BOMi- Technical Development Advice	€87,871	BOMi- Technical Development Advice	€524,694
Indecon	Evaluation of the JobBridge National Internship Scheme	€59,557	Evaluation of the JobBridge National Internship Scheme	€60,725
Inpute Technologies	Digital Documents (Cardiff Teleform Software Development & Support)	€160,825	Digital Documents	-
Inpute Technologies	SAFE PSC	€33,210	Digital Documents	€175,890
Irish Nutrition & Dietetic Institute	Update of the Diet Supplement Diet Cost Report	€4,000	Update of the Diet Supplement Diet Cost Report	€4,000
Irish Nutrition & Dietetic Institute	-	-	Update of the Diet Supplement Diet Cost Report - duplicate	€4,000
Irish Research Council	Social Inclusion Research Innovation Awards	€61,103	Grant Aided Research; not included in response	-
Dr. Mary Mulcahy	Poverty Research Initiative Awards	€1,422	Grant Aided Research; not included in response	-
Eleanor Ashe	Poverty Research Initiative Awards	€1,750	Grant Aided Research; not included in response	-
John Grenham	Report on GRO Records	€3,557	Contract awarded pre May 2011; not included in response	-
KPMG	Actuarial Review of Social Insurance Fund	€153,750	Actuarial Review of Social Insurance Fund	€153,750
Language	Intreo Corporate Identity	€21,990	Intreo Corporate Identity	€22,730
Mel Cousins & Associates	Review of Best International Practice regarding In-Work Supports	€10,000	Review of Best International Practice re In-Work Supports	€10,000
Mel Cousins & Associates	Guidance documentation for deciding & appeals officers	€2,400	Guidance documentation for deciding & appeals officers	€2,400
Mercer Ireland Ltd	Long-term Pensions Policy Research	€18,450	Long-term Pensions Policy Research (Review of Pensions Priority)	€18,150
Microsoft	Support to Technical Architecture Group	€13,445	Strategic input to Technical Architecture Group	€53,109
Monsoon Consulting	Modification to Jobseekers smartphone app	€7,042	FÁS Contract (Not DSP Contract); not included in response	-
Monsoon Consulting	Updates to Jobseekers smartphone app	€7,085	Modification to Jobseekers smartphone app	€6,865
Net Affinity Ltd	Poverty Research Initiative Awards	€291	Grant Aided Research; not included in response	-
NUI Galway	Poverty Research Initiative Awards	€5,000	Grant Aided Research; not included in response	-
NUI Maynooth	Poverty Research Initiative Awards	€6,500	Grant Aided Research; not included in response	-
OECD	OECD Review of Long Term Pension Policy	€130,000	OECD Review of Long Term Pension Policy	€130,000
OECD	Youth Guarantee Advice	€50,000	Planning re Youth Guarantee Implementation	€50,000
PA Consulting Group	Payments Strategy	€111,142	Contract awarded pre May 2011; not included in response	-
Patrick Oliver Ryan	Gender Recognition Advisor Group	€7,000	Contract awarded pre May 2011; not included in response	-
PlatformWeb	EURES Cross Border Partnership Website	€3,250	Not DSP Contract [EURES Northern Ireland/Ireland Cross Border Partnership]; not included in response	-
PriceWaterhouseCooper	National Pensions Framework Implementation/Review of Pension Charges	€60,900	Review of Pension Charges	€61,500
PriceWaterhouseCooper	Provision of Financial Advisory Services (for Payment Services Evaluation)	€7,380	Provision of Financial Advisory Services	€7,380
Red Dog	Design work on various SDM projects	€944	Contract awarded pre May 2011; not included in response	-
Rits	Confidential Forensic Services	€4,654	Confidential Forensic Services	€99,000
Technical Guidance Ltd	Review of Pension Charges	€1,230	Review of Pension Charges	€1,230
TOR Financial	Models of National Employment Based Pension Systems	€9,900	Long-term Pensions Policy Research (Development of Report on Auto Enrolment)	€6,956
Trinity College	Poverty Research Initiative Awards	€9,788	Grant Aided Research; not included in response	-
UCD	Poverty Research Initiative Awards	€6,650	Grant Aided Research; not included in response	-
Version 1	Welfare.ie Maintenance & Support	€58,011	Contract awarded pre May 2011; not included in response	-
Wright Environmental Services	Not Consultancy or IT External Service Provision; not included in response	-	Environmental Services	€7,026
Employment Health Advisors Ltd	Not Consultancy or IT External Service Provision; not included in response	-	Site investigation re. smoke testing/waste pipes/hygiene monitoring/odours in DSP Cobh, Co Cork	€2,023
Nifast	Not Consultancy or IT External Service Provision; not included in response	-	Arklow, Co Wicklow; Tallaght, Dublin and Kings Inn, Dublin, SWLO risk assessments regarding reception areas	€1,845
Elizabeth Costello	Not Consultancy or IT External Service Provision; not included in response	-	Editing Services for research publications	€650
CPL Training Ltd, trading as Nifast Health and Safety Training	Not Consultancy or IT External Service Provision; not included in response	-	Health & Safety Review of Department of Social Protection premises, 77 Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin 1	€1,100
-	TOTAL	€34,831,593	TOTAL	€20,528,647
-	-	TOTAL DIFFERENCE	-	€14,302,946

Question No. 108 withdrawn.

Supplementary Welfare Allowance Eligibility

Questions (109, 119)

Michael Ring

Question:

109. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Minister for Social Protection the reason a person (details supplied) in County Mayo has been refused supplementary welfare allowance towards a deposit for a house; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14582/14]

Michael Ring

Question:

119. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Minister for Social Protection the reason a person (details supplied) in County Mayo has been refused supplementary welfare allowance towards a deposit for a house; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14677/14]

Written answers

Minister for Social Protection

I propose to take Questions Nos. 109 and 119 together.

A designated person is currently examining a supplementary welfare allowance application in respect of the person concerned. A decision will be made shortly and the person concerned will be notified of the outcome.

Domiciliary Care Allowance Applications

Questions (110)

Tom Fleming

Question:

110. Deputy Tom Fleming asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will issue payment and arrears of a domiciliary care allowance application in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14597/14]

Written answers

Minister for Social Protection

The person concerned was notified on the 28th February 2014 that her domiciliary care allowance appeal was successful and that the allowance has been awarded from 1st July 2013. All arrears of payment due have issued.

Carer's Allowance Applications

Questions (111)

Willie Penrose

Question:

111. Deputy Willie Penrose asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will expedite an application for carer’s allowance in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Westmeath in respect of their sibling and in particular in the context where additional medical evidence was submitted in respect of the carer; if the decision will be made to grant same without further delay; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14630/14]

Written answers

Minister for Social Protection

The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 11 November 2013. It is a statutory requirement of the appeals process that the relevant papers and comments by or on behalf of the Deciding Officer on the grounds of appeal be sought from the Department of Social Protection. These papers were received in the Social Welfare Appeals Office on 4 March 2014 and the case will be referred to an Appeals Officer who will make a summary decision on the appeal based on documentary evidence presented or, if required, hold an oral hearing.

The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection and of the Department and is responsible for determining appeals against decisions in relation to social welfare entitlements.

Domiciliary Care Allowance Appeals

Questions (112)

Seán Ó Fearghaíl

Question:

112. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will review a decision to refuse an application for domiciliary care allowance in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Laois; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14640/14]

Written answers

Minister for Social Protection

An application for domiciliary care allowance was received from the person concerned on the 10th October 2013. The application was disallowed as the child was not considered to satisfy the qualifying conditions for the allowance. A letter issued on the 8th January 2014 advising of the decision.

The person concerned appealed this decision and supplied additional information on the child’s condition/care needs. As part of this appeals process, the application is currently being reviewed. If necessary, on completion of the review, the application file will be passed to the Social Welfare Appeals Office for the consideration of an Appeals Officer.

Question No. 113 withdrawn.